Operetta's, !

[Harry]

After listening to almost all Mozart opera's, and only liking two, I sat last night with a womanfriend and listen to Emmerich Kalman. She has a lot of this music, and is very fond of it, and...I too. I so loved going through this music, yet I feel that I have to be ashamed of it, to like it....like it very much, more so as opera. It feels like a crime, for amongst my musical friends few can understand this, well, this almost obsessive drive I have towards operetta.....
So I will begin my exploration with a few I have, and 2 more I ordered...I wonder are there any hardcore admirers of operetta of this board?


O, yes I am fond of the kind of coloratura singing by Anneliese Rothenberger, the higher the better, and that really surprises me......

[Brian]

Kalman is wonderful!    The next logical step is this stellar set:



Oh, what wonderful music he writes. Now it's going to be stuck in my head all day 

[Harry]

Yo, this one I have allready, and its wonderful indeed.

[Lethevich]

Yep. I consider being "delighted" a high priority in opera (too much "profundity" will give indigestion), and operetta is ideal for this. Offenbach is my favourite in the genre, and the ones I like most so far are La Belle Helene, Les brigands and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein.

Not sure if you are looking for DVD as well as CD recommendations, but these two are amazing productions (the Offenbach in particular):

[Harry]

Yep, Offenbach and Lehar are definitively on my list, and these DVD's I eyed with envy for a long time, so I think I will give myself a few Christmas presents, for no one ever gives me something..........
Humpfff, just kidding.
Thank you Lethe.

[Tsaraslondon]

Try this



Surely one of the greatest operetta recitals ever made. No Kalma, but music by Lehar, Heuberger, Zeller, J Strauss, Suppe and Millocker.

[The new erato]

A lot of this material is becoming available on Naxos Historical. I particularly like Land des Lachelns with Schwartzkopf/Gedda.

[Tsaraslondon]

A lot of this material is becoming available on Naxos Historical. I particularly like Land des Lachelns with Schwartzkopf/Gedda.

I have it in a mid price EMI pressing, which comes coupled to the earlier of Schwarzkopf's versions of Die lustige Witwe, and with full libretto and translation. I particularly like Das Land des Lachelns, and this is a superb rendition.

[Harry]

I am non to fond on Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, not her voice, and neither her masterclasses. What a dreadful woman she was for her pupils. Saw it many times, and wanted to strangle her.....

[Tsaraslondon]

I am non to fond on Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, not her voice, and neither her masterclasses. What a dreadful woman she was for her pupils. Saw it many times, and wanted to strangle her.....

Well she was no harder on her students than she was on herself. I actually attended (in the audience) some of her master classes here in London. She was indeed a hard task master (mistress?), but she did get results, and often transformed a penny plain performance into a much more interesting one. When it comes to teaching, singers can only really pass on their own experience and their own way of working, which is what she did.

Anyway, by common consent, even those who don't like Schwarzkopf, admit the superiority of her operetta recordings.

[Harry]

Well she was no harder on her students than she was on herself. I actually attended (in the audience) some of her master classes here in London. She was indeed a hard task master (mistress?), but she did get results, and often transformed a penny plain performance into a much more interesting one. When it comes to teaching, singers can only really pass on their own experience and their own way of working, which is what she did.

Anyway, by common consent, even those who don't like Schwarzkopf, admit the superiority of her operetta recordings.

And therefore, because you say so, I will try the EMI recording of assembled composers.
Thank you, my friend.

[Tsaraslondon]

And therefore, because you say so, I will try the EMI recording of assembled composers.
Thank you, my friend.

I hope you enjoy it, Harry, I have a friend who normally can't bear Schwarzkopf, but he has the operetta arias disc and absolutely loves it. I have been unable to convince him to venture further however, so determined is he to maintain his prejudice.

[Harry]

I am looking for a site where I can download the libretti from operettas.
I bought a EMI box with the operettas from Lehar, not all mind you....
Sadly they are without libretti..so if someone can help?
Thanks...

[springrite]

The Land of Smiles CD I have is in English. I would like to add a version in German if I can next time. The music is the same, but it does sound a lot better in German. Afterall, the music was composed with the intended language in mind and all due consideration taken. (I do have two of the arias on other CDs that are sung in German. Much MUCH better.)

[karlhenning]

Yep. I consider being "delighted" a high priority in opera (too much "profundity" will give indigestion), and operetta is ideal for this.

So, to take this to a different genre . . . Shakespeare's tragedies: pretty much the worst things he wrote, eh?  

[Harry]

The Land of Smiles CD I have is in English. I would like to add a version in German if I can next time. The music is the same, but it does sound a lot better in German. Afterall, the music was composed with the intended language in mind and all due consideration taken. (I do have two of the arias on other CDs that are sung in German. Much MUCH better.)

Agreed in German it should be. I am so lucky that I speak and understand it fluently, but sometimes the speech is, due to the high singing of the coloratura, not good to follow, so I need the libretti anyway....
Try the CPO recording I post below, its very good, and seen international as the best performance in the German language....

[Harry]

Would love to get recommendations for the Family Strauss operettas, until now I could find little.
Which are the most famous?
But all other operettas I did not mention, or passed them by because I am still ignorant in the field, well, let the recommendations come......

[Morigan]

Well, as far as I know, only Johann Strauss II wrote operettas in the family (I could be wrong?)

The most obvious answer is Die Fledermaus, the most popular operetta ever, one could argue. The 2nd most known is probably Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron). I have a DVD and one or two recordings of the former, but I've only heard good excerpts from the latter.

I know he wrote about 15 operettas, but the other ones are rarely played outside of Austria (but the good waltzes and overtures from them are often played, like the case of "Das Spitzentuch der Königin", for which the excellent waltz "Rosen aus dem Süden" was composed).

[Harry]

Well, as far as I know, only Johann Strauss II wrote operettas in the family (I could be wrong?)

The most obvious answer is Die Fledermaus, the most popular operetta ever, one could argue. The 2nd most known is probably Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron). I have a DVD and one or two recordings of the former, but I've only heard good excerpts from the latter.

I know he wrote about 15 operettas, but the other ones are rarely played outside of Austria (but the good waltzes and overtures from them are often played, like the case of "Das Spitzentuch der Königin", for which the excellent waltz "Rosen aus dem Süden" was composed).

Thanks Morigan, of course Die Fledermaus I knew, and the Zigeunerbaron, but I was unaware of the fact that Strauss II was the only one of that big family that wrote operettas. Hmmmmmm.
Well, I will talk with the management from CPO about those 15 operettas...........

[Morigan]

I did a quick check-up; indeed, the father and the brothers only composed marches, polkas, quadrilles and waltzes!

Here's a list of J. Strauss II' operettas... (shamelessly stolen from Wiki)
I believe the bolded ones are what you should look into (besides Fledermaus and Zigeunerbaron, of course).

    * Indigo und die Vierzig Räuber Indigo and the Forty Thieves (1871)
    * Der Karneval in Rom The Carnival in Rome (1873)
    * Die Fledermaus The Bat (April 5, 1874, at Theater an der Wien, Vienna)
    * Cagliostro in Wien Cagliostro in Vienna (1875)
    * Prinz Methusalem (1877)
    * Blindekuh Blind Man's Buff (1878)
    * Das Spitzentuch der Königin The Queen's Lace Handkerchief (1880)
    * Der lustige Krieg The Merry War (1881)
    * Eine Nacht in Venedig A Night in Venice (1883)
    * Der Zigeunerbaron The Gypsy Baron (1885)
    * Simplicius (1887)
    * Fürstin Ninetta Princess Ninetta (1893)
    * Jabuka - Das Apfelfest Apple festival (1894)
    * Waldmeister Woodruff (1895)
    * Die Göttin der Vernunft The Goddess of Reason (1897)
    * Wiener Blut (1899)


EDIT:  I forgot... Strauss attempted to compose an Opera, Der Ritter Pasman. I think he never finished it, but a polka and a waltz from the unfinished score are often played. The same thing happened with his unfinished Ballet, Aschenbrödel.